Mali Featured Stories

Over the past decade, herbicide use has increased rapidly, in Mali and throughout West Africa. With many counterfeit products available. Recent research by the Feed the Future’s Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy’s (FSP) Mali Food Security Policy Research Program shows that out of 100 bottles of glyphosate herbicide purchased for laboratory testing, 40% turned out to be counterfeit or unregistered. No wonder farmers consistently report widely differing outcomes, even when they buy the same herbicide from the same supplier. Researchers from the FSP Mali team and the USAID West Africa Regional Program are now working with the regional pesticide regulatory body, the Comité Sahélien des Pesticides (CSP), to identify the magnitude of the quality problem in the region, and seek potential solutions.